Victoria Blake

Bloodless Shadow by Victoria Blake had been sitting on my bookshelf for a number of years and when I finally brought it down to read this month I was in for a couple of surprises. The first was the timing of the book, for some reason I had gotten it into my mind that this was historical mystery but in actuality, it is the first book in a small series about a modern day British Private Detective. Instead of a light crime story this was a gritty dark story featuring a P.I. that has more issues than her clients. The second surprise was how much I enjoyed this book.

Set in London and Oxford, Sam Falconer is hired by the husband of a missing woman. As she investigates the woman’s disappearance she becomes convinced that this is not a woman that will be found alive. Everyone in the story has secrets, and when Sam receives a letter from her father, a man who has been dead for twenty years, she is forced for confront more than a few secrets of her own.

I found Bloodless Shadow to be a well plotted, developed and written mystery. The main character is an angry, troubled and unhappy young woman but by the end of the book she had confronted her past and had received some closure. It would be interesting to see what happens next but these mysteries are not readily available so, although I will keep my eye open for more, I doubt that I will be continuing with the series.… (more)